He's played an average of 40 minutes in the first two games of the Cavs' showdown with the Golden State Warriors and he's averaging 28.5 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in those two games.

His team is down 2-0, and the two losses weren't even close. In fact, LeBron, for all of his tremendous, triple-double-averaging play, is minus-33 through two games.

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There's no logical argument to be made for LeBron being a burden to his Cavs' team — there are nuanced conversations to be had about his defensive performances, but to say that LeBron is a detriment to the Cavs' effort is to be disassociated with reality. (Though I'm sure some, if not many, will try to make this argument before Game 3 tips off.)

The Cavs are in a 2-0 hole because James isn't getting much, if any, help.

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He's not getting consistent performances from the other two members of the Big Three: Kevin Love was poor (despite a 15-21 box-score scoreline) in Game 1, but bounced back to have a good Game 2; Kyrie Irving, who was strong in Game 1, went 8-of-23 in Game 2.

The Cavs can't win with a Big Two, even when James is putting up incredible numbers.

They particularly can't win with a Big Two when damn near every role player has struggled as well.

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Tristan Thompson, the Cavs' starting center and x-factor, has been a non-factor in the first two games of these Finals. He has a grand total of eight rebounds and eight points in two games.

Deron Williams, who entered the first NBA Finals of his career with momentum, has turned in a dud performance — he's yet to score in 33 minutes. At times, he's been comically overmatched by the Warriors.

Channing Frye, who sat in Game 1, played in Game 2 — that was a nice surprise — and he was subsequently embarrassed at the rim twice.

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Kyle Korver — the "best shooter in the world" according to his teammates — has one 3-pointer to his name through two games. In Game 2 he at times looked afraid to pull the trigger.

Iman Shumpert has been terrible — he's drawing front-iron at an incredible rate and is shooting 25 percent from the field, while his defense hasn't been up to par.

And then there's J.R. Smith. If you have seen Smith, please make sure that he makes it to Cleveland for Game 3, because there's no evidence that he played in Games 1 or 2.

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In all, Smith has shot the ball six times in these NBA Finals. He's made one of those shots — in the early goings of Game 1 — and has been next to unplayable ever since: The Warriors have averaged 1.27 points per possession when he's on the court in these Finals. His poor play has forced Ty Lue's hand: The Cavs were only able to put their starting shooting guard on the court for 14 minutes in Game 2. There's no circumstance where that's acceptable.

The only role player who has given the Cavs much of anything in these first two games is Richard Jefferson. Thirty-six-year-old Richard Jefferson — the guy who was going to retire after last season. He's averaging eight points per game in these Finals.

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The Warriors deserve a ton of credit for limiting Cleveland's secondary offerings, but at some point, the Cavs' role players' poor play has to be viewed as self-sabotage. They have no one to blame but themselves.

Doing it all is clearly wearing on James — he's looked tired in the second halves of the first two games of these Finals, an issue that will only compound as the series continues.

He needs some help, not only from Irving and Love but also from someone — anyone — else.

The Cavs aren't out of these NBA Finals, no matter how much it might feel like they are after two games. But if Cleveland's role players continue to play like this, this series will be historically short.